About the Role
Our client is seeking a Head of Finance who can operate across both FP&A and financial control.
This is a broad, high-ownership role within a growing, internationally operating business. You will lead financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, and modeling while also taking responsibility for group reporting, consolidation, audit, tax, payroll, and core finance operations.
The successful candidate will be equally comfortable developing strategic financial models and getting into the detail of the month-end close. You will understand the story behind the numbers, challenge assumptions, and translate complex financial information into clear, actionable insights that enable leadership to make better decisions.
As part of a lean finance team, this role requires someone who is comfortable operating beyond a narrowly defined remit. You will identify what needs to be done, propose practical solutions, improve processes, and take ownership through execution.
For the right individual, this is an opportunity to operate at a senior finance leadership level, work closely with key decision-makers, and play an important role in the organization’s next phase of growth.
Key Responsibilities
- Own the annual budget, reforecasting process, and long-term financial plan.
- Build, maintain, and continuously improve an integrated three-statement financial model covering the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow.
- Challenge business assumptions and continuously improve forecasting accuracy as the organization grows.
- Produce monthly performance reporting covering actuals versus budget, cash flow, key business metrics, and financial performance.
- Lead scenario analysis and commercial modeling to support strategic and operational decision-making.
- Support the preparation of Board materials, investor reporting, and analysis related to potential financing activities.
- Partner with department leaders to understand variances, challenge spending, and improve accountability against budgets.
- Serve as a key finance partner to commercial and sales teams, ensuring operational and commercial data aligns with reported financial performance.
- Develop clear reporting and visualization that makes financial information accessible and actionable for non-finance stakeholders.
- Identify opportunities to improve reporting and finance processes through business intelligence tools, automation, and AI.
- Own the month-end close across multiple entities, ensuring reconciliations, accruals, journals, and other activities are completed accurately and on time.
- Prepare consolidated monthly management accounts across the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow.
- Provide clear commentary on performance, variances, trends, and significant financial movements.
- Own the year-end close and coordinate the preparation of statutory financial statements across multiple jurisdictions.
- Lead the annual external audit, including managing timelines, deliverables, and relationships with external auditors.
- Develop, document, and maintain appropriate financial controls as the organization scales.
- Oversee tax calendars and statutory compliance requirements across multiple international jurisdictions, working with specialist external advisors as required.
- Coordinate indirect and corporate tax filings, tax incentive programs, sales tax requirements, and other applicable statutory obligations.
- Support transfer pricing and intercompany arrangements across group entities.
- Review payroll across multiple jurisdictions, including employees, contractors, and third-party employment arrangements.
- Manage increasingly complex payroll and finance requirements associated with an internationally distributed workforce.
- Own and continuously improve core finance systems, processes, and controls.
- Identify manual or inefficient processes and introduce automation where appropriate.
- Promote the effective use of AI and emerging technology within the finance function.
- Support supplier onboarding, compliance activities, and broader finance operations.
- Work closely with senior finance leadership as a key member of a lean finance function.
- Manage, coach, and develop junior finance team members.
- Provide guidance and support across the broader finance function and assume additional areas of responsibility as the business grows.
Requirements
- Professional accounting qualification or equivalent experience, with a strong foundation in financial accounting and commercial finance.
- Approximately 5–7+ years of relevant finance experience, although demonstrated scope of responsibility and level of ownership are more important than a specific number of years.
- Strong FP&A experience, including ownership of budgeting, forecasting, and long-term financial planning.
- Demonstrated experience building a complete three-statement financial model from the ground up, rather than solely maintaining an existing model.
- Advanced Excel and financial modeling capabilities.
- Strong understanding of cash flow and the operational metrics that drive a growing business.
- Experience managing a complete budgeting and forecasting cycle.
- Experience partnering directly with department leaders, challenging assumptions, and influencing financial decision-making.
- Hands-on management accounting and financial control experience.
- Experience operating across multiple entities and currencies.
- Experience with group consolidation and consolidated management reporting.
- Experience preparing or reviewing statutory financial statements.
- Experience leading or playing a significant role in an annual external audit.
- Confidence working with senior stakeholders and translating financial analysis into clear commercial insights.
- Ability to operate effectively across both strategic FP&A and hands-on financial control responsibilities.
- Experience within a recurring-revenue, subscription, technology, or similarly fast-growing business is advantageous.
- Understanding of recurring-revenue metrics, including annual recurring revenue, churn, and net revenue retention, is advantageous.
- Experience within an investor-backed startup, scale-up, or other high-growth environment is beneficial.
- Experience supporting a financing or capital-raising process is advantageous.
- Experience working with CRM and commercial data and reconciling it against reported financial performance is beneficial.
- Exposure to international finance, tax, payroll, transfer pricing, or compliance is advantageous.
- Experience working across international entities and coordinating with external professional advisors is beneficial.
- Experience implementing or improving business intelligence, financial reporting, or data visualization tools is advantageous.
- A proactive, curious, and ownership-oriented approach, with the ability to learn unfamiliar areas quickly and work effectively with specialist advisors.
